Second Former Trading Firm Executive Sentenced To 24 Years In Federal Prison For Defrauding Coloradans and Clients Worldwide Of $179 Million

DENVER - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announces that Michael Shawn Stewart, 63, of Scottsdale, Arizona, was sentenced to a total of 288 months in federal prison and $93,273,838.16 in restitution after being found guilty by a federal jury in May 2024 on 14 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Co-defendant, Bryant Edwin Sewall, 59, formerly of Little Elm, Texas, was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison in November 2024 after being convicted on the same counts.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Stewart and Sewall were owners and executives of companies operating on various Caribbean islands under the names Mediatrix Capital and Blue Isle Markets. As part of the scheme, Stewart and Sewall provided false and fraudulent information about an algorithm-based foreign currency exchange ("ForEx") trading program to potential investors and to salespeople they were using to solicit investors. For example, Stewart and Sewall falsely represented that Mediatrix had a history of successful ForEx trading going back to 2013 with no months of losses when, instead, Mediatrix did not exist until 2014, and its trading history included many months of net losses. Mediatrix promised its investors "100% Transparency," "100% Liquidity" and "World Class Returns."

Additional evidence at trial showed that, after luring investors into the scheme, Stewart and Sewall fraudulently induced them to stay by manipulating account statements to show only positive trades while intentionally hiding massive losses that substantially reduced those investors' accounts. By the end of the scheme, Stewart and Sewall had promised investors over $179 million but had only $9.8 million in their accounts, a gap that they internally referred to as "the hole." Even as they lost approximately $32 million in trades, Stewart and Sewall rewarded themselves with approximately $28 million in performance fees. They also used their brokerage, Blue Isle, to fraudulently convert investor money into over $45 million in markup fees. They spent the money on real estate, boats, cars, jewelry, and other luxuries.

"Stewart and Sewall stole millions of dollars from unsuspecting clients so they could give themselves lives of luxury. Instead, they bought themselves decades in federal prison and have been ordered to pay $93 million to the people of whom they took advantage," said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly. "To others who think they might want to get rich by defrauding their clients, we look forward uncovering your scheme and bringing you to justice."

"Mr. Stewart and his co-defendant orchestrated an elaborate foreign currency investment fraud scheme causing significant financial harm to unsuspecting victims; they misled investors with calculated lies about profit potential while diverting the money for personal gain," said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski. "The FBI remains committed to pursuing justice for individuals targeted by financial criminals."

A third partner involved with Mediatrix and Blue Isle - Michael Young - previously pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison in 2024.

United States District Judge William J. Martinez presided over the sentencing.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Denver Field Office conducted the investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Bryan Fields and former Assistant United States Attorney Anna Edgar handled the prosecution.

Case number: 21-cr-00034-WJM